There are plenty of newly-added sequences in the films that I just didn't want, such as Aragorn falling off a cliff in The Two Towers, apparently dying, then turning out to be okay after all. I would have significantly decreased the length of the Battle for Helm's Deep, because in retrospect, having seen the whole trilogy, it seems like Minas Tirith-lite. Jackson's Faramir was a very different character than Tolkien's – that change didn't bother me personally, but many people hated it. Much criticism has also been levelled at Jackson's reworking of the Shelob sequence, which has Gollum manipulating Frodo into sending Sam packing. There was the simplification of previously complex characters like Saruman and Denethor. And of course there's the very unsubtle, physical, gigantic flaming eyeball attached to the top of Barad-dûr. I also missed the Scouring of the Shire, which Tolkien himself said was a necessary and integral part of the story.

I would have reversed (or at least reconsidered) all of the above if I had been in charge – some changes go against the spirit of what Tolkien wrote, and some I just don't like. On the whole, I am very happy with what Jackson did with the trilogy – but I still wish we were getting a different director's take on Middle-earth for once.